Mondovi (WQOW) - A World War II veteran received
replacements of priceless memorabilia as part of a ceremony in Mondovi on Sunday.
Doug Ward, who served in the army from 1942 through 1945, was presented with eight
medals for that service, but they were accidentally misplaced. Those medals
were replaced as part of the 26th annual Fly-In event.
"I think about that
today, "Well weren't you scared?" I guess I was too dumb to be scared
or something, I don't know," said Ward.
Doug Ward took time to reflect on Sunday.
He joined the army in 1942 up until the end of World War II.
"I was 19, and not
a care in the world. I felt bad for the guys that were married and had a wife
back home and kids or something. But 19 you didn't have a care in the world,
you were indispensable. They weren't going to get you," Ward said.
The World War II veteran received
eight service medals for his role as gunner in a B-17. Over the years, they had
been displaced. On Sunday, he received new ones. They are replaced free of
charge for veterans, and were ordered and presented by his state representative
Ron Kind.
"I was supposed to
be an engineer or crew chief on the airplane, that's what I trained for. But I
met a bunch of these guys that I went to gunnery school with. I got really well
acquainted with them, got to be real good buddies. They needed a ball turret
gunner on their airplane, so I asked if I could get released and join their
crew," said Ward.
Doug's friend "Diz"
who was also a gunner in World War II said those who were in the skies saw a
different fight than those on the ground.
"I like to use the
expression "We had a sterile type of combat," an airplane would
explode 200 yards ahead of us, explode and 10 people are killed. But we didn't
see them, we didn't know them. We just knew that we were flying with them, they
were in the same squadron probably. Where on the ground, they get used to
seeing stomachs ripped open, that type of thing," said Harold "Diz"
Kronenberg.
Many of Doug's friends and fellow
veterans were on hand for the ceremony, which was part of the 26th Annual Fly-In
at Doug's Log Cabin Airport in Mondovi.
"This is where all
my friends are today, now you can see the gathering here. It's quite a tribute
they paid to me I think today...to show up," Ward said.
Some of the medals he received during
that ceremony include the Distinguished Flying Cross, World War II Victory Medal,
and the American Campaign Medal.
